Winklevoss twins launch bitcoin exchange in the UK

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The twin brothers who sued Mark Zuckerberg after claiming he stole their idea for Facebook are opening an exchange for buying and selling bitcoins in the UK.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, made famous by the Hollywood film The Social Network, which chronicled Mr Zuckerberg’s rise to power, became bitcoin entrepreneurs after winning a $65m (£44m) settlement from Facebook.

Having first heard about the digital currency while holidaying in Ibiza in 2012, the pair, formerly Olympic rowers, launched their online marketplace Gemini in New York last year, allowing traders to buy and sell bitcoin for dollars.

On Tuesday, they will open the exchange to UK residents, letting them swap bitcoins for ethereum, a nascent digital currency. The brothers plan to extend the platform to allow trading in dollars and pounds in the coming months.

“We know there’s been a lot of demand for our services in the UK, we know there’s a strong desire, New York and London are financial capitals of the world and speak the same language,” Tyler Winklevoss said.

It comes amid resurgent interest in the digital currency, which has seen its price hit a two-year high after a collapse in 2014. Mr Winklevoss said the brothers saw bitcoin – which relies on a network of computers creating an online ledger of transactions – as a way of letting the financial system operate around the clock.

“It’s like a better version of gold,” he said. “Bitcoin is basically money working the way your email works: imagine if your email had to shut down at 5pm and during the weekend. We’d like money to work 24/7. It really feels like these technologies have world changing potential and can improve people’s lives.”

“The past is the past, we’re very proud of the way we handled righting a wrong and we achieved a solid degree of justice,” Tyler Winklevoss said. “We’re now writing a new chapter. The short answer is it’s not something we’re bothered by.”